Baton Rouge -- Gov. Bobby Jindal has gotten involved in the federal court case over who will be the next chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. A motion by Jindal's executive counsel says the governor believes it is an issue for the state to decide. The state had already entered the case and stated that position but Jindal's motion says he entered to "avoid further ambiguity regarding the State's representation of its interests in this matter."

Meanwhile, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund filed a brief supporting Justice Bernette Johnson, who went to federal court to make sure her fellow justices don't deny her the chief justice position next year when current court leader Kitty Kimball retires.

Louisiana's Constitution says the longest-serving justice must become chief justice. When voters elected her in 1994, Johnson, who is black, at first filled an appeal court seat but was assigned to serve on the Supreme Court full-time under terms of a civil rights lawsuit settlement. Some argue that Justice Jeffery Victory, who has served since 1995, has served longer than Johnson.

Jindal is not taking a position on who should be chief justice, only that it is a matter for the state to decide.

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund's brief says Johnson has undeniably served the longest and that state Supreme Court actions to determine whether Johnson's years as an appeal court judge permanently assigned to the court should count as years of service infringed on the federal court's authority to oversee the civil rights settlement.

Both Jindal's and the defense fund's documents were filed Monday. U.S. District Court Judge Susie Morgan on Tuesday officially made Jindal a defendant in the civil rights case and his executive counsel Elizabeth Murrill was added as a lawyer for the state in the case.